New King James Version NKJV
Revised Standard Version RSV
1 My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you,
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My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you,
2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding;
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making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;
3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding,
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yes, if you cry out for insight and raise your voice for understanding,
4 If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures;
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if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures;
5 Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, And find the knowledge of God.
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then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;
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For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;
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he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
8 He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints.
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guarding the paths of justice and preserving the way of his saints.
9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice, Equity and every good path.
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Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path;
10 When wisdom enters your heart, And knowledge is pleasant to your soul,
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for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
11 Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you,
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discretion will watch over you; understanding will guard you;
12 To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things,
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delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech,
13 From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness;
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who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness,
14 Who rejoice in doing evil, And delight in the perversity of the wicked;
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who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil;
15 Whose ways are crooked, And who are devious in their paths;
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men whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways.
16 To deliver you from the immoral woman, From the seductress who flatters with her words,
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You will be saved from the loose woman, from the adventuress with her smooth words,
17 Who forsakes the companion of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God.
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who forsakes the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God;
18 For her house leads down to death, And her paths to the dead;
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for her house sinks down to death, and her paths to the shades;
19 None who go to her return, Nor do they regain the paths of life--
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none who go to her come back nor do they regain the paths of life.
20 So you may walk in the way of goodness, And keep to the paths of righteousness.
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So you will walk in the way of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will dwell in the land, And the blameless will remain in it;
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For the upright will inhabit the land, and men of integrity will remain in it;
22 But the wicked will be cut off from the earth, And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.
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but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the treacherous will be rooted out of it.